How babies learn to identify objects

Friday

Jan 17, 2014 at 2:47 PMJan 17, 2014 at 2:54 PM

Sometimes the messes parents dread having to clean up are an important part of children's learning

Dr. Elaine HeffnerMore Content Now

Two stories surfaced recently that, while seemingly unrelated, may have a connection through the questions they raise. The first concerned a study published in Developmental Science about learning through eating. Toddlers were taught new names for foods and were then tested to see if they could connect those names with the foods when they were presented in different colors and shapes. The conclusion was that the toddlers learned better if they had played with their food.

The purpose of this research was to understand more about how babies learn the names of nonsolid objects. Parents are familiar with the way we label everyday things almost automatically for babies, helping the names of objects become the beginning of speech. First books show pictures of a ball, dog, or cup — things easy to recognize. Other things that do not have concrete shapes are more difficult to identify by sight. Mushy cereal or mashed potatoes are more challenging than a cookie or a cup.

The researchers reasoned that children's most regular encounter with nonsolid substances comes at mealtimes. They found that toddlers who were reported by their parents to be messy eaters showed the best learning. Messiness came from exploring the mushy cereal with their hands, squeezing and smearing it, eventually tasting it by licking their fingers. These were the children who understood what creamy cereal was and could identify it even if it came in a different shape or tint.

Apparently, sometimes the messes that parents dread having to clean up are an important part of children's learning. Young children learn by exploring their world. This exploration means the use of their senses. They learn by looking, smelling, touching and tasting. I remember well my son as a young child pouring a box of Ivory Snow on the floor, thinking he could build the snowman shown on the cover. He then thought he could clean it up with some water.

Children learn through these explorations, often demonstrating both imagination and creativity. This often results from an adult point of view in "making a mess." But it is also the reason that programs for young children include opportunities to play with sand, water, or clay. Adults sometimes see children as "just playing," instead of learning letters and numbers. Actually, much of that play is learning, and is the foundation for later lifelong learning and curiosity.

So what are we to make of the results of a survey of 1,000 parents of young children that found more than half bought a tech item for their children this holiday season? About two-thirds of those planned to give a tablet or smart-phone. Toy makers are increasingly devising tablets for children and including apps in more traditional toys.

The apparent contradiction between digital entertainment and learning about the world through the use of our senses raises important questions. The argument has been made that the technological world surrounding even the youngest children today is the world in which they will live, and the new tech toys prepare them to function in that world.

Do these changes mean that the experiences that were thought necessary for optimal child development are less important than we thought? Or is it that those experiences led to skills that no longer serve the needs of today? These questions are somewhat unanswerable without knowing the adult outcome of the new childhood experience.

The opportunity for swiping is now readily there even in infancy. In the technological age, perhaps our challenge as parents is to find ways to continue to expose our children to opportunities for squishing.

Elaine Heffner, LCSW, Ed.D., has written for Parents Magazine, Fox.com, Redbook, Disney online and PBS Parents, as well as other publications.

She has appeared on PBS, ABC, Fox TV and other networks. Dr. Heffner is the author of "Goodenoughmothering: the Best of the Blog," as well as "Mothering: the Emotional Experience of Motherhood after Freud and Feminism." She is a psychotherapist and parent educator in private practice, as well as a senior lecturer of education in psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College. Dr. Heffner was a co-founder and served as director of the Nursery School Treatment Center at Payne Whitney Clinic, New York Hospital. And she blogs at www.goodenoughmothering.com.